Machinery for the making of roads and the like



T. C. POTTS May 10, 1966 MACHINERY FOR THE MAKING OF ROADS AND THE LIKEFiled Dec. 26, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mm 9 i m. Q Nw /NVENTOP TH MASCECIL PoTTs BY ATTORNEYS May 10, 1966 T. c. POTTS 3,250,191

MACHINERY FOR THE MAKING OF ROADS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 26, 1962 SSheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR THO/ 463 CE 611- 7 0TTS BY QWWJ m AT OR/VEYS T.C. POTTS May 10, 1966 MACHINERY FOR THE MAKING OF ROADS AND THE LIKE 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec.

6 WW 1 m vm Wu C S A W wa A TTORNEYS United States Patent 3,250,191MACHINERY FOR THE MAKING OF ROADS AND THE LIKE Thomas Cecil Potts,Bersham, Clifie Square, Great Harwood, Blackburn, England Filed Dec. 26,1962, Ser. No. 247,116 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec.29, 1961, 46,5 61 Claims. (Cl. 94-46) This invention is concerned with amachine whose main use will be for the laying and surfacing of roads,paths and the like, but which is useful also for the laying of largerareas such as car parks, airport runways and similar traffic surfaces.The primary purpose of the invention is for the laying of bitumenised ortarred ballast, such as that known by the trademark Tarmac, and whetherof course, medium or fine grade. The improved machine could however beused also for the laying of other wet mixtures, such as concrete andsimilar spreadable, hardenable materials.

It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide anefiicient and sturdy apparatus which is very much less costly than thosehitherto obtainable, which is easy to operate, is easy to clean afteruse, and is readily convertible from actual working conditions to acondition for transit under its own power between various places ofoperation and/ or storage.

According to this invention, the improved spreading apparatus comprisesa wheeled chassis carrying at its front end a hopper for the material tobe spread, and a subframe pivotably mounted in said chassis at or nearsuch front end and having at its rear end a transverse screed and aspreader plate extending across the track of the vehicle, means formoving said sub-frame about its pivot so as to regulate the height ofthe said screed from; the ground, and further means for adjusting theinclination of the spreader plate between its front and rear edges so asto determine the final thickness of the layer being spread. Theapparatus will usually beself driven, e.g. by internal combustion enginebut in some cases could be towed.

The invention may be characterised by the provision of a plow devicesuspended from'the sub-frame usually in the form of a triangle arrangedapex foremost and pivotably supported about a vertical axis at the apexand means would be provided for oscillating the plow horizontally abouta point at or near said apexso as to spread laterally the materialencountered by the plow after falling from the hopper. In order toassist in the lateral spreading of the material a rotary screw isarranged on a transverse axis at each side of the machine immediately infront of the screed and means is provided for rotating these screws whentheir rotation is necessary or desirable.

In order that the machine may be usable in all weather conditions it isproposed to provide a heating means on' the spreader plate, one form ofwhich means could be an arrangement of burners for a combustible gas(e.g. butane or methone) delivered to the burners from a pressure vesselcarried on the machine.

In the preferred arrangements the vehicle is provided with a power unitadapted to drive a number of hydraulic pumps feeding a correspondingnumber of hydraulic motors, one for the driving of the machine along theroad, via a differential gear, one for oscillating the plow and one fordriving the said screws. The drive to the road wheels could be through areduction gear for slow movement whilst spreading, and where trafiicregulations so allow, through -a higher ratio speed transmission formore rapid movement whilst being transported from place to place.

The machine may include a roller at the back, to roll out the spreadmaterial, and in those cases steering of the machine may be effected byshifting the axis of the roller, and the drive'transrnission to the roadwheels will include a reversing gear. In most cases however it will bemore convenient to have an independent roller following behind themachine and, in these cases steering of the machine will be effected atthe front wheels, for example through an Ackerman type steeringmechanism.

Th machine will usually have pneumatic-tired wheels, the rear wheelsbeing the larger and being driven.

According to a further feature of the invention, the said spreader plateis mounted on the lower end of the screed and such screed is dividedinto end to end sections one or more of which is or are adjustable inheight so as to impart a camber to the spreader plate. This adjustmentand the adjustment of the sub-frame in the main frame makes it possibleto vary the spreader plate so that it may be (a) straight and parallelwith the road surface being covered or (b) straight and inclined to theroad surface being covered, or (c) cambered, either symmetrically orasymmetrically across the road surface.

Conveniently the said sub-frame is pivoted to the chassis adjacent theaxis of the front wheels, it carries the screed at its rear end and suchrear end i suspended from the chassis by screw-and-nut mechanism bywhich the subframe may be wound up close to the main chassis when not inuse. There is also a further nut-and-screw mechanism operating betweenthe said sub-frame (or an extension thereof) and the rear part of thespreader plate, for altering the inclination of the spreader platerelative to the longitudinal axis of the machine, by lifting or loweringthe free edge of the plate, thereby determining the thickness of thelayer being spread.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings of one practical embodiment. In the drawing: 1

FIG. 1 is a side view of the machine in working condition;

FIG. 2 is a plan of the same; and

FIG. 3 is a rear view of a slightly modified form of the machine.

As shown the improved spreader comprises a main chassis, made up oflongitudinal girders 1 which are inclined upwardly from front to rearand are braced together by transverse girders or angles 2. This mainchassis carries mountings for a main axle whose axis is indicated at 3and on which are the rear wheels 4, each such wheel being associatedwith a double chain sprocket 5 to be driven by a chain 6 as hereinafterdescribed. At the front end of such main chassis is a front axle whoseaxis is indicated at 7 and the ends of which carry smaller nondrivenwheels 8. These wheels would be on stub axles (not shown) controlled forsteering purposes by a normal Ackerman type steering mechanism operatedfrom a steer-' ing wheel 9 through a steering column 10 articulated at auniversal joint 11'.

Pivotally mounted to the forward end of this main chassis at the point12 is a sub-frame or sub-chassis made up of longitudinal girders 13braced transversely by angles or plates 14. The height from the groundof both these frames is fixed at the front end, being determined by theposition of the axis of the hinge 12. At the rear end however, whilstthe height of the main chassis is fixed being determined by the wheels4, the height of the sub-frame is variable by means of screws 15equipped with hand wheels 16 and passing through nuts 17 held on themain chassis, the lower ends of these screws 15 having collars which areheld captive but rotatable in shackles 18 mounted on the sub-frame.Therefore, by rotating the wheels 16 and elevating screws 15 in the onedirection or Patented May to, 1966 r o v.13

other, the rear end of the sub-frame may be raised and lowered, as thecase may be.

Carried by the members 13 of the sub-frame is a channel-sectioned screedcomposed of the three end-to-end parts, namely two outer parts 18 and acentre part 18*. These three parts are connected along their lower edgesto a common spreader plate 19, which is reinforced by welded-on channels20 arranged fore-and-aft of the vehicle. The two end parts 18 of thesaid screed are connected together by a bridgepiece 21 through whichpasses an adjustment screw 22, with handwheel 23 at the top, and thisscrew engages in a nut 24 fixed to the centre part 18 of the screed. Byrotation of the screw 22 to raise the part 18*, the spreader plate -19may be adjusted, or constrained, to take up a curved or camberedformation transversely of the vehicle. Also by a differential rotationof the adjustment screws 15, the spreader plate and screed may be givenany desired angle to the road surface being covered.

In the preferred forms of the improved machine the nuts 17 are held onone arm 25 of a bell-crank lever pivoted at 26 on the main frame girders1, the other arm 27 of these levers being connected to the piston rod 28of a hydraulic ram drive 29. Whilst therefore the adjustment screws 15give a fine adjustment of the plate 19 to a working position, the drive29 allows of a rapid high lift of the plate, useful for example when thevehicle is to be driven in a non-working condition, say from site tosite or site to depot. By having a suitable fixed limit stop in thedrive 29, the plate 19 maybe returned to its working position afterhaving been lifted therefrom without requiring any readjustment.

In an alternative arrangement, illustrated in FIG. 3, the nuts 17' areconnected directly to the main frame girders 1. In this case no rapidhigh lift of the spreader plate is possible.

The machine is powered by an engine indicated in outline at 30 withcooling radiator'31 at the front. This engine drives three hydraulicpumps, namely a main pump in a tank 32, this pump being directly coupledto the engine at the front thereof, and two pumps 33, 34 coupled to theengine indirectly at the rear thereof. The pump 32 drives a hydraulicmotor 35 direct coupled to the input of a differential gear unit 36 fromwhich transverse axles 37 extend, each of these axles carrying a chainsprocket 38 which by the chains 6 drive the said sprockets 5 on the mainaxle. The pump 33 drives a hydraulic motor 39 which through a reductiongear 40 and a chain drive 41, slowly rotates a shaft 42 held in bearings43 suspended from the sub-frame girders 13. On the shaft 42 are feedscrews 44, of opposite thread, which have the task of feeding to theouter ends of the spreader any excess of material accumulating at thecenter of the screed due to a build-up against the screed. The pump 34drives a hydraulic motor 45 and reduction gear 46, the output from whichlast carries an eccentric 47, the strap rod 48 of which has a purposedescribed below.

Carried by the sub-frame is a suspended triangular shaped frame or plowcomprising inclined sides 49 and a transverse rear part 50. The forwardapex of this plow is suspended by an arm 51 whose forward end is held ona pin 52 carying a compression spring 53 above.

the arm, the said pin being held in a super-structure 54 built on to themain frame. At its rear end the plow is suspended from the main frame bypivoted links allowing of a transverse to and fro movement, whichmovement is received from the above mentioned strap-rod 48 of theeccentric 47, the lower end of such rod being pivotally connected'to thetransverse member of the plow.

At its forward end portion, the plow has upstanding lugs 55 receivingone end of slotted links 56 which in turn are connected to arms 57 on across shaft 58. By adjusting the connections of these parts the front tovary the degree of inclination of the plow. Should the plow meet anobstruction in the road, the spring 53 will allow it to rise and passover the obstruction. The triangular frame or plow is adapted fortransverse vibration so as to spread material from the hopper in theevent of its piling up unduly at the centre of the machine.

The sub-frame may carry lateral extensions (not shown) at the ends ofwhich there would be side plates determining the outside contours of thespread area.

At its front end the main chassis carries a hopper 59 for receiving thematerial to be spread, this hopper being supported at the front end bystruts 60 adjacent the lower end of which are brackets 61 for transverserollers 62 which may abut against the tires 63 of a truck or the likeused for loading material into the hopper. This arrangement allows ofthe spreader being hitched to the back of a truck so that as the twomove forwardly together a continuous filling of the hopper may takeplace. More usually however the hopper will be refilled intermittentlyas the need arises. A towing attachment is provided at 61".

For regulating the output of the material from the hopper, the bottom ofthe hopper is provided with two sliding doors 64 each of which, on itsunder side carries a nut (not shown) mounted on a threaded part of a rod65 extending rearwardly to the rear end of the machine where the rod isprovided with a hand wheel 66. By rotation of the hand wheels 66 thesliding doors may be opened and closed so as to adjust the rate ofoutflow of the material from the hopper, or to interrupt the flow ofmaterial altogether.

Below the doors 64 and the outlet which they control is a levellingplate or bar 67 carried by levers 68 one end of which bar is pivotallymounted around the axis of the wheels 8 and the other end of which baris connected by link 69 to a radial arm '70 mounted on a fixed shaft 71.This shaft also carries a lever 72 which can be bolted to the maingirder 1 at selected points 73. The bar 67 acts as a first leveller ordistributor to prepare the material for a more positive spreading by theplow.

On the plate 19 is a long casing 74 in which are burners 75 adapted tobe fed at connection 76 with an inflammable gas from the conduit 7 6 ofa gas bottle 77 carried on the super-structure 54, on which also thetank 32 is mounted.

In the rear ends of the beams 13 of the subframe are screws 78 fitted atthe top with wheels 79 and held at the bottom in shackles 80 on thereinforcing channels 20. These screws 78 serve to determine the finalthickness of the coating being spread.

In use, the operator stands on the top of plate 19 and, having firstadjusted the height and camber of the screed 18 18 by means of thewheels 16 and 23, and having adjusted the rear part of the spreaderplate 19 by means of the wheels 78 to what he thinks is adequate, thevehicle is set in motion with the sliding doors 64 open to the desiredextent and the material begins to fall through the bottom of the hopperto the road. Here it is spread in a primary way by the plate 67, thenfurther spread by the plow and finally spread by rotating the screws 44when necessary or desirable. Next the material is met by the screed 1818 which directs it under the plate 19 and this limits the thickness ofthe carpet put onto the road.

and any material which may become piled up against the screed, at'anylocation therealong, may be distributed laterally by operating thedistributing screws 44.

The operator has the controls 16,23 and 79 within his reach for constantadjustment when necessary and he is able to steer the machine by meansof wheel 9. Also, on a control panel 81 (FIG. 2) there are othercontrols, including those 82, 83, 84 for the three hydraulic motors 32,33 and 34. With these the operator controls the progress of the machine,the rotation of the, screws 44 and the transverse vibration of the plow.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for laying fiowable, hardenable material on a road or likesurface, the machine comprising:

(a) a wheel chassis,

(b) a hopper carried on the front end of the chassis,

(c) a sub-frame pivotally mounted on the front end of said chassis,

(d) a transverse screed mounted on the rear end of the sub-frame andextending transversely of the machine and including three aligned butspaced and separate screed parts,

(e) a common spreader plate attached to and projecting rearwardly fromthe said screed parts and extending transversely of the rear end of theframe,

(f) rigid bridging means connecting the outer two screed parts,

'(g) moving means extending between said bridging means and the innerscreed part and being operable to move the said inner screed partrelative to the outer screed parts, thereby deforming the spreaderplate,

(h) adjustable means interconnecting the sub-frame ,and said chassis formoving the sub-frame about its pivot to raise and lower the rear end ofthe snbframe so as to regulate the height of the screed above theground, and

(i) adjustable means for increasing and decreasing the angle of attackof the spreader plate.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rigid and moving meanscomprise a rigid bridge piece and a screw and nut assembly respectively,the nut being secured to the inner screed part at one end of the screwand the other end of the screw being rotatably connected to the bridgepiece.

3. A machine for laying flowable, hardenable material on a road or likesurface, the machine comprising:

(a) a chassis,

(b) front and rear pairs of wheels carrying the chassis,

(c) a hopper mounted on the front end of the chassis,

(d) a sub-frame extending rearwardly from the front of the chassis, thesaid sub-frame being pivoted to the front end of the chassis,

(e) a transverse screed carried by said sub-frame at the rearendthereof, the said screed including outer and inner separate parts,rigid means connecting said outer parts,

(f) a common spreader plate attached to and projecting rearwardly fromthe said screed parts and extending transversely of the sub-frame,

(g) moving means extending between said rigid means and the inner screedpart and being operable to move the inner screed part relative to theouter screed parts, thereby deforming the spreader plate,

(h) adjustable means interconnecting the sub-frame and said chassis formoving the sub-frame about its pivot to raise and lower the rear end ofthe subframe so as to regulate the height of the screed above theground, and

(i) adjustable means for increasing or decreasing the angle of attack ofthe spreader plate.

4. A machine for laying fiowable, hardenable material on a road or likesurface, the machine comprising:

(a) a chassis,

(b) front and rear pairs of wheels carrying the chassis,

(c) a hopper mounted on the front end of the chassis and having anoutlet,

(d) a sub-frame extending from the front of the chassis to the rear, thesaid sub-frame being pivoted to the front end of the chassis,

(e) a transverse screed carried by said sub-frame at the rear endthereof, the said screed including outer and inner separate parts, rigidbridging means connecting said outer parts, adjustable means connectingsaid bridging member to said inner member,

(f) a common transverse spreader plate attached to the lower surface ofsaid screed parts and extending rearwardly thereof,

(g) adjustable means interconnecting the sub-frame and said chassis formoving the sub-frame about its pivot to raise and lower the rear end-ofthe subframe so as to regulate the height of the screed above theground, I

(h) adjustable means for increasing or decreasing the angle of attack ofthe spreader plate,

(i) means for steering the chassis, and

(j) a plurality of separate manually operable means for operating theaforesaid moving means, adjusting means and steering means, all saidmanually operable means being located as to be operable by a singleoperative.

:5. A machine according to claim 4, with a pair of rotatable spreadingscrews, each screw arranged on a transverse axis at one side of themachine immediately in front of the screed and means for effectingrotation of said screws.

6. A machine according to claim 5, which further comprises a power unitdriving hydraulic pumps for operating a hydraulic motor to propel themachine through a differential gear drive unit, and for operating ahydraulic motor for rotating said screws, with means whereby said motorsare controllable independently of each other.

7. A machine according to claim 4, which further comprises a heatingmeans overlying and adjacent to the top surface of the spreader platecomposed of a series of gas chambers fed with combustible gas from apressurized container carried on the machine.

8. A machine according to claim 4, wherein the front end of saidsub-frame is pivoted on the chassis adjacent the axis of the frontwheels, and the rear end of said subframe is suspended from the chassisby screw-and-nut mechanism by which the sub-frame may be wound up to aposition closely adjacent to the main chassis when not in use andwherein there is also another screw-and-nut mechanism which isoperatively connected between the said sub-frame and the rear part ofthe spreader plate, for altering the angle of attack of the spreaderplate relative to the longitudinal axis of the machine.

9. A machine according to claim 4, having sliding door means controllingthe hopper outlet, with control means situated for regulating the degreeof opening of said door means.

' 10. A machine according to claim 4, which further includes hydrauliclifting means to lift the sub-frame rapidly independently of its manualadjustment.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,065,698 12/1936 Hetzel 94-44 2,168,507 8/1939 'Barber 9445 2,245,426 6/1941 Baker94-46 2,303,812 12/1942 Barber 94-45 2,393,954 2/1946 Baker 94-462,589,256 3/1952 Homing 94-46 2,911,892 11/1959 Pollitz 94-46 3,041,9467/ 1962 Watters 94-46 3,111,070 11/1963 Pollitz 94-46 CHARLES E.OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiner.

N. C. BYERS, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MACHINE FOR LAYING FLOWABLE, HARDENABLE MATERIAL ON A ROAD OR LIKESURFACE, THE MACHINE COMPRISING: (A) A WHEEL CHASSIS, (B) A HOPPERCARRIED ON THE FRONT END OF THE CHASSIS, (C) A SUB-FRAME PIVOTALLYMOUNTED ON THE FRONT END OF SAID CHASSIS, (D) A TRANSVERSE SCREEDMOUNTED ON THE REAR END OF THE SUB-FRAME AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OFTHE MACHINE AND INCLUDING THREE ALIGNED BUT SPACED SEPARATE SCREEDPARTS, (E) A COMMON SPREADER PLATE ATTACHED TO AND PROJECT INGREARWARDLY FROM THE SAID SCREEN PARTS AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THEREAR END OF THE FRAME, (F) RIGID BRIDGING MEANS CONNECTING THE OUTER TWOSCREED PARTS, (G) MOVING MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID BRIDGING MEANS ANDTHE INNER SCREED PART AND BEING OPERABLE TO MOVE THE SAID INNER SCREEDPART RELATIVE TO THE OUTER SCREED PARTS, THEREBY DEFORMING THE SPREADERPLATE, (H) ADJUSTABLE MEANS INTERCONNECTING THE SUB-FRAME AND SAIDCHASSIS FOR MOVING THE SUB-FRAME ABOUT ITS PIVOT TO RAISE AND LOWER THEREAR END OF THE SUBFRAME SO AS TO REGULATE THE HEIGHT OF THE SCREEDABOVE THE GROUND, AND (I) ADJUSTABLE MEANS FOR INCREASING AND DECREASINGTHE ANGLE OF ATTACK OF THE SPREADER PLATE.